It was the night of the prom, Alice came over and Chris showed her her dress.
"It's amazing, Chris!" She cried. Alice looked Chris up and down. "I love the suit, Chris!"
Chris smiled, proud of his work. He was wearing an aqua blue suit jacket with black lapels and a glittery black vest underneath. He had on matching aqua dress pants with a black tie, a white shirt and heavily polished black shoes, his hair neatly combed. I sniffed the air. "Chris, you smell like that crap you put in your hair. What did you use, a whole bottle?"
"It's called hair gel, Angie." He said cooly.
"I think you look very nice, Chris." Alice smiled. "I'm going to go change into This."Alice took the dress and went into our bathroom to change.
I held my dress and waited my turn. When Alice came out, Chris said, "Oh, you look so cute Allie!"
Alice blushed a little. "Thank you, Chris. I love this dress." Her dress was the same shade of teal as Chris's suit and ended about an inch below her knees. It had black glittery polka dots and it was completed with a black petticoat.
I changed into my dress and they both squealed when I came out of the bathroom. Oh, Angie! So cute! Blah Blah Blah.
We went to pick up Leo and Kathy. Leo was wearing a simple black suit with a dark purple tie to match Kathy's dress, which was probably the dressiest thing I would ever see him in. He almost looked nice. Kathy was wearing her purple dress and she had a large purple bow pinned to the side of her head.
They got into Alice's car and Leo said, "Nice suit, Chris."
Chris smiled proudly, "Thank you, I made it myself."
"Really?" Kathy said, "That's so cool!" Leo gritted his teeth jealously. Why did the guy who doesn't even like girls get all of her attention?
We soon arrived at our school gym. I must say, it was really awesome. We all went last year, but none of us had dates because we were all freshman. I don't know what it was about freshman last year, but none of the sophomore, juniors, etc wanted to be seen with us.
There were multicolored disco lights everywhere and modern music was playing. Chris's eyes lit up. "Alice! The dance competition is in 30 minutes!"
Alice grinned excitedly. "I'll go tell the DJ what song we want. You're going to dance with us, aren't you, Leo? Kathy?"
Leo and Kathy nodded. It then occurred to me that I was the only one without a date in our group (Well, Chris and Alice weren't a romantic couple, but they could be called a date). I felt a little left out, but I was sure I'd have fun anyway.
It was soon time for the dance competition. Alice and Chris were practically bouncing with excitement, then the feeling of being nervous flooded over Alice and she started to panic, Chris looking into her eyes with his hands on her shoulders, saying, "Don't worry, Alice. We practiced this for hours every day. We can do this!"
The co-captain of the football team, Jack, and his girlfriend were up first. Jack wore a black suit with a red tie and his girlfriend, Cloe, was wearing a red and black salsa dress. The song Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs came on.
A blood red light came on behind them, turning them into silhouettes.
Off with your head, dance till you're dead. The music echoed through the gym creepily.
Heads will roll, heads will roll, heads will roll on the floor. I saw out of the corner of my eye, Chris's hand drew up to his throat.
Glitter on the west streets.... They started doing sharp turns and elaborate dance moves.
The men cried out, the girls cried out, the men cried out, the girls cried out, the men cried out, oh no..... Jack and Cloe circled around each other in a wide circle. She would fall, kicking her leg up into the air and he would catch her etc etc. They were good. Really good.
When they finished their dance, everyone clapped. It had been amazing. Leo, Chris, Alice, and Kathy stood with their mouths hanging open. "There is no way we can win now." Leo said.
Kathy clapped her hands together, trying to sound positive. "Well, don't think that way. We'll try our best and if we don't win, it's okay!"
I nodded, "Kathy's right. Good luck." Leo smiled at me in a non-Leo-like way, kind of like he was thinking about me, weird.
The judge's called out Chris's group name. "You're up." I said, "Good luck." Chris nodded and the four of them got into their positions in the center of everything, Chris and Alice back-to-back and Kathy and Leo back-to-back. Chris raised his arm dramatically and snapped his fingers. The lights turned from their blood red color to blue, showing their four silhouettes in blue. Alice's wavy hair hanging in
front of her face, Chris's bangs cut out clearly in the blue light. Kathy's curly hair hanging in front of her, Leo's slicked back.
The music started, Down by Jay Sean. Baby are you down down down down down? They all jumped sideways so they were all in a line, at each 'down', the each stuck out their right arm. Chris and Alice jumped back together, Leo and Kathy doing the
same. Dooooowwnn, doooown. Kathy did the Gwen Stefani dip and waved her hips outward, Leo, Chris and Alice all doing the same.
Even if the sky is fall-ing doown. Chris and Alice stuck their arms up in the air,
waving their hands and bringing their arms down. Leo and Kathy did the same.
You oughta know, tonight is the night to let it go. Put on a show. They all twirled
and the guys caught the girls in a classic dip move.
So come on and fly with me, as we make our bi-ig escapeeee. The guys flipped the girls over their heads and quickly set them lightly back on their feet.
So baby don't worry, you are my only, you won't be lonely.... One arm at a time,
Chris and Leo put their hands on their partner's shoulders, the girls doing the same
right after. The guys slapped their hands from their partner's shoulders to the girls' hips, the girls imitating them. Even if the sky is falling down. Dooown, doooown. They did the Gwen Stefani dip again, the guys twirling their partners.
They did more awesome dancing. They could dance, man!
Just let it be, come on and bring your body next to me. I'll take you away. They
went back-to-back again, the girls brushing their fingertips against the boys'
cheeks and the guys picked them up and flipped them again.
At the end of the dance, everyone cheered. Chris and the gang stood in the center
of the room, sweating from all the exercise, the boys each with an arm around their partner's hip as the final stance.
They all rushed over to my and I gave Chris a big hug. "Damn, Chris! Who taught
you to dance?" I said, impressed. I handed him a water bottle.
"Thanks," Chris said, "I got dance lessons and then I taught them what we just did."
"That was so awesome." I said. I glanced at Leo, who was hugging Kathy tightly. I
hadn't seen him this happy in a while. I wonder what Michelle would think of this.
Chris gave Alice a hug, "Great job!" He congratulated her.
"That was so much fun, Leo!" I heard Kathy say, Chris and Alice turning around to
watch them with me. Leo nodded and smiled, his sweaty hair glimmering in the
light. They stared into each others eyes for I while and, big surprise, Kathy put her hands behind Leo's head and kissed him. What a shock.
Chris sighed and said quietly, not wanting to disturb them, "Ah, so predictable. As I said, they make a cute couple for now, but if they ever have kids, I won't babysit for them."
Alice giggled. As I watched Leo and Kathy, I felt kind of bad again. Left out. I sighed and Chris said, "Hey, you okay, Ange?" I nodded and Chris put one arm around me and the other around Alice. "Sooo.... want to go get some punch or food or
whatever is on the other side of the room?"
"Sure." Alice and I both said. We walked across the room, leaving Leo and Kathy
alone. We went to the refreshment table and got punch. The three of us leaned
against the wall, sipping our punch and talking.
Chris's eyes widened a little, "Oh no, dumb blonde alert." We followed his gaze to
see Michelle coming toward us, a Kristen Chenoweith-type smile on her face. "Hey, you guys!" She said, her long hot pink ruffly skirt trailing behind her dress.
"Hi, Michelle." We all said stupidly. She didn't notice. "So, is Leo here?"
"Uhh...." I said dumbly, at loss for words.
"Nope. He just left." Chris chimed in, "Sorry."
Michelle nodded, "Oh, no, it's fine. I just.... wanted to see him tonight. He didn't ask me to be his date, so I guess I kind of assumed he wasn't coming."
Chris and I exchanged looks and Michelle continued. "But, I was just asking. So um...... Who did he come with?"
"Oh, a group of other guys." Alice said quickly. "No other girls, j-just some of his
friends.... who where guys."
Michelle nodded dumbly again, looking a little hurt. "So, I.... I'll see you guys later." She said, turning to leave.
Just then, Leo and Kathy came over to us, his arm around her waist. Michelle turned around, almost bumping into them. "Oh, sorry." Leo said. "Oh! Uh, M-michelle! What a surprise.... to see you... here....."
Michelle glared at him angrily. "You came with her?" She said, gesturing to Kathy.
Leo stuttered, "Uh, yeah..... W-we came as a group. Me, Angela, Chris....."
"Oh, so she's not the only girl you came with." Michelle broke in sharply, "You also
brought Alice and Angela and Chris! Oh, it's a whole bunch of girls!"
Chris sighed when she said this.
"N-no!" Leo stuttered, "Uh, well..... Chris isn't a girl! And, uh.... You see- no
Michelle! Don't go!" Michelle turned around and stomped off.
Leo sighed. "Great, now she's gonna hate me." Tears welled up in his eyes. Kathy
looked like she wanted to comfort him, but she didn't know how.
Leo pointed a finger at me. "This is all your fault!" He screamed, causing several
people around us to stop talking and turn to us. Alice's shoulders tensed and Chris put his arm around her comfortingly.
"What?" I said in surprise, "How is it my fault?"
"If you hadn't told me to ask Kathy to this stupid party and if she hadn't kissed
me-" Leo turned to Kathy. "If you hadn't kissed me! If you hadn't done that than I'd still have my girlfriend! This is all your fault!"
"Leo, stop! She doesn't deserve that!" Chris said. He was totally right.
"You shut up, Glitter Boy!" Leo yelled at him.
"Hey! Don't talk to him like that!" Alice said, raising her voice.
"You stay out of this!"
"Leo! Stop!" I screamed.
"Shut up, Angela! This is your fault too! It's all your fault. It's everyone's fault!" Leo
screamed, his eyes filled with tears. We all started yelling at each other, it was like
someone had set the mood to 'Fury'. We were all screaming and crying and none of us were sure how it would all end up.
"AHHH! I HATE YOU, ANGELA!!!!" Leo screamed and he stomped out the nearest exit. We were all silent, about twenty of the seventy, eighty kids in the room staring at
us.
I slowly dropped to my knees. "What did I do?" My voice shook. My cheeks and eyes felt hot and tears started running down my cheeks. I hated crying in front of all
these people. Then again, I wasn't the only one. Kathy's eyes too were filled with
tears and Chris and Alice looked close to breaking along with us. Once one person cries, the rest are soon to follow.
Chris put his hands on my shoulders, "You did nothing, Angela." He said, holding
out a hand. I sniffed and took it, standing up.
Kathy sniffed and I went up to her. "I hope you know that it's not your fault either." I said.
Tears started falling from her eyes. "But if I hadn't done that, if I hadn't been so
stupid...." Chris came up behind us and put a hand on each of our shoulders.
"Come on, girls. Let's find Leo and go home." We nodded and the four of us went
out the gym door.
We were silent for the whole ride home. Instead of dropping Leo and Kathy off at
Leo's house so he could drive her home, we dropped Leo off and took Kathy to her house.
That night, I lied awake, unable to sleep. I heard a gentle knock on my door and I
sat up. "Come in." I said, my voice thick from crying. Chris opened the door.
"Hey." He said, "I thought you might be awake."
"It's hard to sleep when you know your friend hates you."
Chris sat down on my bed, "He doesn't hate you, he's just mad. People get over
things. I'm sure Leo will have gotten over it by Monday, when you'll see him again." I sniffed and Chris patted my back. I laughed a little. "You can be so comforting
sometimes, when you're usually the one crying."
Chris chuckled. "Come here." I gave him a hug. "'Night, Ange."
"Night, Chris."
He got up and closed my door behind him. I lied down in my bed, thinking about
what Chris said. He was probably right. I'm sure Leo would find some way to forgive me.
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